Iron Man Recast? Robert Downey, Jr ‘Would Really Hate’ That

The actor tells MTV News he expects to play the superhero ‘for a long while.’By Kevin P. Sullivan

Robert Downey Jr. at the “Avengers” premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday

Photo: Getty Images

With the Avengers finally assembling next week, Marvel Studios and the stars behind the heroes have already begun to look ahead to the next films set in the comic-book universe. At the closing night celebration of the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday night (April 28), Robert Downey, Jr. spoke with MTV News about the future of his character, Iron Man, and addressed recent talk about other actors playing the role in the future.

At CinemaCon last week, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige mentioned to Badass Digest that when it came time for Downey to leave the role of Tony Stark behind, a new actor could pick up right where he left off, like in the James Bond films.

But Downey told MTV News on the red carpet that he wasn’t so thrilled about the idea of someone else playing Tony Stark. “I would really hate for someone else to think they could step into my shoes,” he said. An infamous jokester, he couldn’t help but ask, “I wonder who’s playing Tony Stark next. Is it you? Is that what you’re here to tell me?”

But Downey can’t be Iron Man forever, and while the 42-year-old actor couldn’t say for sure how many movies he has left in him, he made clear he’ll be interested as long as they remain good films.

“I know things are looking like that they could go on for a long while,” Downey said. “As usual in my book, it’s all about quality control and delivering a product that you can have this kind of reaction to. If they keep doing that, maybe I’ll keep showing up.”

In Downey’s immediate Marvel future, there’s next year’s “Iron Man 3.” The past few weeks have seen actors like Sir Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain potentially joining the cast, and Downey said that he could not wait to work with “any or all of them.”

“It’s funny. Sometimes you have to call for a good old-fashioned British invasion,” Downey said. “‘Iron Man 3’ is really shaping up to be something special. We start in a couple weeks. I’m sure I’ll be leaking secrets to you as we move ahead.”

What secrets, you ask? Well, it was recently announced that “Iron Man 3” would be co-produced in China. As for whether any filming would take place in the East, Downey was less forthcoming. “I’d like to tell you all my secrets,” he said,” but I forget them.”